Us
by Phantasy Star
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Chapter Fourteen


Darien stared outside the window of his car as Erin continued to drive.

They had left the central streets of Tokyo, and were entering an area Darien
hadn't seen before.

He had been here once, but he couldn't quite remember when or for what.

"So where do you live, Erin?" he asked.

"Kinda in the middle of nowhere, actually," she replied.

"You want me to drive?" Darien offered, "You look tired."

"Oh no, you've in no condition to drive," Erin said.

Suddenly, Darien's cell phone rang.

"Darien Chiba," he said.

"Darien?" Serena's voice said over the phone.

"Serena," Darien said, surprised, "What is it?"

"Darien, where are you going? This isn't the way to your apartment."

"Huh?" Darien said, "Where are you?"

"I'm... I'm in the white car behind you," Serena admitted.

"You're following me?" Darien asked as he looked over his shoulder to find,
indeed, a white Porsche a short distance behind them.

"Well... in a way, yes," Serena said, then added quickly, "Darien, where are you
two going?"

An image of Serena in the arms of Ryan flashed through Darien's mind.

He was getting annoyed, "It's none of your business where I go and who I go with."

"Darien, listen to me," Serena said, "You've got to turn back."

Darien scoffed, "I don't understand you, Serena. One moment, I see you leaving
me without a backwards glance, and the next, you're following me home. Why do you
keep sending me these mixed signals?"

She didn't answer for a second.

Suddenly, something occurred to Darien.

"Who's car are you in, Serena?" he demanded.

"I..." Serena said softly.

He waited for a second, but she refused to answer him.

'Ryan's', he thought, 'Of course.'

"Whatever," Darien said.

"Darien, please," Serena said, "This is really im-"

"Why don't you just have your boyfriend drive you home and leave me alone?" Darien
asked bitterly and hung up.

* * *

"Darien! Darien!" Serena cried into the phone.

Ryan glanced at her.

"He hung up on me," Serena said with a frown.

"You still want me to follow them?" Ryan asked.

"I..." Serena said, "I guess not."

Ryan took a deep breath.

"What's going on, Serena?" he asked.

"I..." Serena began, and looked down, "It's... really weird. You may not
understand... I'm... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Ryan said.

He took a turn left and headed back the way they came.

* * *

"We're here," Erin announced.

She and Darien got out the car.

Darien looked around. They were standing in front of a mansion, very close,
almost dangerously close, to a cliff.

This place looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place anything on it.

"Wow, your house is huge," Darien commented.

"Have you changed your mind about coming in?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Darien said, a bit curious as to what was inside, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Erin said, with a queer smile that Darien didn't like, but he
shrugged it off.

Darien followed her into the house.

He stepped into the dark room and was about to close the door behind him, when
suddenly...

It closed by itself.

"Huh?" Darien stammered, as he turned around to look for Erin.

Suddenly, the lights turned on.

Standing in the middle of the room, he found Erin, but not the shy, brown-haired
Erin he knew.

Her hair had turned a dark black colour, and had grew much longer. Her eyes
began to emit a bright red glow.

Darien stared at her in shock.

Then he shook his head.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," he muttered.

Taking a rose from the inside of his jacket, he prepared to transform.

* * *

Serena sat quietly, staring out the window, as they finally arrived back into
the city.

She still couldn't shake off the horrible feeling...

'I hope I'm wrong, Darien,' she thought, 'I really hope so... for you sake.'

* * *

Darien stared at his rose.

Why didn't his transformation work?

Erin, or the woman who stood where Erin used to stand, laughed hysterically,
"You're in my turf now, Prince Darien. Why do you think I lured you here?"

Darien didn't say anything.

Erin gave him a smile, "You're at the dark gate. No other energy can exist
here, except for darkness..."

Then she laughed, "Prepare to experience some true pain."

On that note, a board rose off the floor and attached itself to Darien's back.
In an instant, black wires had appeared and held him tight.

Without warning, Mistress Nine created a dark ball of energy and hurled it at
Darien, hitting him square at the chest.

He cried out in both pain and surprise.

"Now," she said with a smirk, "You'll tell me who the princess really is, or else
you get another dose of dark energy."

Darien breathed heavily, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Mistress Nine screamed, as immediately,
another wave of blackness hit Darien.

"Come on now," Mistress Nine cooed, "Don't be afraid..."

'She's after Serena...' Darien thought.

"There _is_ no princess," he spat.

The dark mistress gave him a look of fake sympathy.

"Nice try," she whispered.

Darien cried out in pain again as more dark energy hit him.

"It doesn't matter if you tell me or not," she said softly as she looked at the
floor, "I've already located two other people who holds the information I need."

She looked up at him.

"Now, you seem pretty determined not to spill. But I'll give you one last
chance. If you tell me, I may let you live. If not, well, you die, and I move
on to my next guests who will be more co-operative with me. Let's make it easy
for both of us, hmm?"

Darien gave her a look of disgust and pure hatred, "I've told you, there's no
princess."

"Wrong answer," Mistress Nine said, and began to gather dark energy.

The black ball in her hand began to grow, larger and larger.

"Nice meeting you, Prince Darien," Mistress Nine said.

Then she raised the sphere up and prepared to hurl it at Darien.

'Serena,' Darien thought, a tear sliding down his cheek, 'I'm sorry.'

He closed his eyes and prepared for the blast.

'I love you.'



Author's Notes:

Wow, so many wonderful and encouraging
reviews/e-mails from last chapter!

As a thank-you to my reviewers, I uploaded
this chapter only two days after the last
one was up. (I'm so proud of myself ^^)

Please continue to review. And thanks for reading :)